Chapter Text
Seeing how the last chapter had affected Annabeth made Frank a little terrified to continue with the reading. But they were stuck here now, and they had to make the best of it. He just couldn’t help wondering, for about the millionth time, how reading about Tartarus would affect Percy and Annabeth. They’d all accepted that those events would likely be included. But that didn’t mean that they weren’t still terrified to see how it would go.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when Aphrodite read out the next chapter title.
“We Meet the Sheep of Doom,” Aphrodite said, her eyes twinkling with amusem*nt.
“Well, that’s friendly,” Leo chimed in, apparently determined to keep the mood high after the last chapter. It worked, thankfully, with several people throughout the throne room chuckling at his comment.
“When you think ‘monster island’... A second later the sheep all moved away, back to their regular peaceful wanderings. Where the deer had been was a pile of clean white bones.”
Jason chuckled nervously. “Carnivorous sheep. Fantastic.”
“Annabeth and I exchanged looks… the other lifeboat from the CSS Birmingham.”
“Oh, hey, Clarisse is back!” Leo said with a grin while Clarisse grimaced.
“We decided there was no way we could get past the man-eating sheep… Fortunately, she found something else to put it against. Unfortunately, that something was my face.”
Percy grunted and Annabeth chuckled slightly. “Sorry, Seaweed Brain.”
“All good,” Percy responded, rubbing his cheek.
“‘Sorry,’ she murmured… Finally, when my fingers felt like molten lead and my arm muscles were shaking from exhaustion, we hauled ourselves over the top of the cliff and collapsed.”
Percy and Annabeth slumped against the couch, flexing their hands and wincing as though they’d actually just made that climb.
“‘Ugh,’ I said… Clarisse was tied up, hanging upside down over a pot of boiling water.”
Clarisse winced and shifted uncomfortably.
“I was half-hoping to see Tyson down there, too… ‘Did you say bride?’ Clarisse demanded. ‘Who-- Grover?’”
Frank’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding.” He muttered.
Clarisse sighed heavily. “I know, I should’ve shut up.”
“Next to me, Annabeth muttered, ‘Shut up. She has to shut up.’ … ‘--You could go get some mangos right now, down there in the woods. I’ll just wait here.’”
Athena smiled at Grover. “Very clever, satyr.”
Grover grinned. “Thank you, Lady Athena.”
“The monster pondered this… ‘Have to graze sheep now. Wedding postponed until tonight. Then we’ll eat satyr for the main course!’”
“Wait a second,” Leo said, “he’s still getting married? To who?”
Clarisse groaned, which gave the rest of them all the answers they needed.
“‘But… you’re still getting married?’ … He fed them chunks of mystery meat from a great wicker basket, which only reinforced the feelings I’d been having since Circe turned me into a guinea pig-- that maybe it was time I joined Grover and became a vegetarian.”
This drew some chuckles from the group.
“‘Trickery,’ Annabeth decided… Imagine a winter sweater that’s been dragged through the mud and left in the laundry hamper for a week. Something like that.”
Percy gagged, and several other demigods winced in sympathy.
“The sun was going down… I made a silent promise to the gods that if we survived this, I’d tell Annabeth she was a genius. The frightening thing was, I knew the gods would hold me to it.”
Annabeth rolled her eyes fondly as the rest of the room dissolved into chuckles.
“My sheep taxi started plodding up the hill… ‘Nobody!’ Polyphemus yelled back. ‘I remember you!’ ‘You’re too stupid to remember anybody,’ Annabeth taunted. ‘Much less Nobody.’”
Athena’s eyes lit up with recognition and she smiled at Annabeth. “Very good, Annabeth.”
“I hoped to the gods she was already moving when she said that… ‘Percy?’ Clarisse said. ‘You’re supposed to be blown up!’”
Frank snorted. “Well, that’s a greeting.”
Clarisse rolled her eyes, but chuckled slightly. “In my defense, last I’d seen of him, he was falling toward a ship that exploded. Not many people could survive that.”
“‘Good to see you, too.--’ … An explosion echoed through the cave, followed by a scream that told me we might be too late. It was Annabeth crying out in fear.”
Annabeth bit back a scream as Percy pulled her into a hug. Frank could just barely catch the short conversation they had as Aphrodite passed the book to Hermes. As far as he could tell, the conversation mainly consisted of asking Annabeth if she would be okay, at which Frank scowled slightly. Great, he thought. Annabeth’s going to get seriously hurt in the next chapter. Absolutely fantastic.
Before Hermes could start reading, Thalia slumped forward, holding her stomach.
Percy’s expression darkened. “It’s getting worse because the condition of the tree was worsening.”
Annabeth nodded. “We need to get through the rest of this book as quickly as possible.”
No one argued with them, though several people sent Thalia worried looks. Hermes opened the book to the next chapter and announced with a confused frown, “Nobody Gets the Fleece.”
